Sparda

Sparda is the demon responsible for defeating Mundus two thousand years ago, and is the father of Dante and Vergil.

Physical Characteristics
In his human form, Sparda looks exactly like his sons. His rebellious nature was that of Dante, while he had the cold personalty of Vergil, as stated in the Devil May Cry novels. His hair was swept back and he is always portrayed as wearing a monocle and purple jacket. In his true form, Sparda was a human sized demon, with cloven hooves, a semi-reptilian hide, a pair of sweeping horns, two pairs of insectoid wings and one pair of chiropteran/bat wings. His entire body appears to be made of grey armor with accents and overtones of tyrian purple, and features ornamental decorations, such as gold trimming along his "crown", a vertical red gem in his forehead, as well as gold knee and elbow guards. It is unknown if these are part of an external armor or whether they are natural features of his anatomy. An interesting note is that his shadow is in the shape of a demon rather than his human form, suggesting that unlike his sons Dante and Vergil his true nature lies in his devil form, implying that his human appearence is simply a disguise of sorts.

Pre-Games
Sparda was once one of Mundus's loyal demons, but at some point he suffered a change of heart and switched sides, fighting to protect the humans. He defeated Mundus's demon armies, before moving on to the Emperor of Darkness himself. Sparda defeated Mundus, and sent him and his armies back to the demon realm. In order to close the gateway, Sparda used his own blood, along with the blood of a human priestess, in conjunction with his sword and a mystical amulet. He poured his demonic energy into his beloved sword to close the door between realms, the Temen-ni-gru, though this also robbed him of the lion's share of his abilities. As an added measure, he also imprisoned within the tower its gatekeepers, Cerberus, Agni & Rudra, Nevan, Beowulf, Geryon, and Doppelganger, and took the names of the Seven Sins in order to imprison them and set them as seals keeping the Temen-ni-gru underground. In Devil May Cry 4 it is revealed that he sealed another path to hell in Fortuna using the Yamato. Sparda's activities over the next two thousand years are shrouded in legend, though it is understood that for a time after defeating Mundus, he ruled over the humans before eventually vanishing. Sparda later appeared in the twentieth century where he met and fell in love with a human woman named Eva, who bore him twin sons.

Devil May Cry 3
Arkham uses the Sons of Sparda to open the gate to the Netherworld, in order to obtain the Force Edge and thus the powers of Sparda. While he is able to use it to temporarily take on Sparda's form, he is unable to truly resonate with it and soon transforms into a hideous demonic blob.

Devil May Cry
Prologue: "Two milleniums ago there was a war. Between the human world and the other... the Underworld. But somebody from the Underworld woke up to justice, and stood up against this legion, alone. His name was Sparda. Later he quietly reigned the human world, and continued to preserve harmony, until his death. He became a legend, The Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda."

Sparda is referenced frequently throughout the game. At the start of the battle with Mundus, Dante finally awakens the true powers of Sparda's sword, and assumes Sparda's form as a new Devil Trigger. In this form, Dante can fly, shoot fireballs from his fists, and summon a spectral dragon. While fighting on the ground during the second part of the boss battle, Dante can also charge the fireballs, and the range of his sword is greatly extended.

Devil May Cry: The Animated Series
It is revealed that Sparda once had two apprentices, the twin brothers Baul and Modeus.

Devil May Cry 4
The Order of the Sword is a group of demon hunters that worship Sparda. Nero, the main protagonist of Devil May Cry 4 is blood linked to Sparda, and referenced multiple times in Sparda's rebellious nature.

The demon Berial seems to mention having encountered Sparda, claiming that when it last came to the Human World two millennia prior, there was only one "human" like Nero.

Devil May Cry 2
Dante mentions that Sparda once crossed into the Demon world and returned. It is also revealed that Sparda once fought against Argosax and Bolverk.

Powers and Abilities
his powers are limited only by the ammount of badass behavior one's television can handle without frying

Weapons
Sparda used the Yamato, and also sealed his power into the Force Edge, his own trademark weapon. It is said that he also used the Luce & Ombra.

Trivia

 * In the Devil May Cry 3 manga, the Seven Sins state that Sparda was once very rebellious, and that Dante's attitude resembles Sparda.


 * In Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 3, Dante can obtain the "Legendary Dark Knight" costume by clearing Hard mode. In Devil May Cry, this seems to actually be Sparda himself, as Dante's Alastor and Ebony & Ivory are replaced with Sparda's Yamato and Luce & Ombra. His Devil Trigger and shadow are that of Sparda's devil form, no matter the equipped Devil Arm, though his abilities still depend on that Devil Arm.


 * In Devil May Cry 3, Dante's "DMC1 Dante" and "Coatless DMC1 Dante" costumes assume the form of Sparda while in Devil Trigger, possibly reference to how Dante, in the end of DMC1, takes the Force Edge and uses Sparda's Devil Form to defeat Mundus.


 * Sparda's coat and general dress being purple appears to be a combination of Vergil and Dante's trademark colors, or rather their red and blue being a split.